The Tangible Kingdom



God is moving.
Our hearts are stirring.
We are listening.

We don't know exactly what it's going to look like, but we feel Him asking us to trust.

And to move.

Is it founded on Biblical principles? For sure.
Is it for everyone? No.

And that's the beauty of the Body of Christ!
Some are the eyes, some are the arms, and others are the feet.
We are ALL called to live it out, and we all do it a little differently.
We know this isn't for everyone, and that's okay.
We all have our own walks, our own relationships with Christ, and our own journeys.

WE are just trying to live out our part.
We're trying to listen to our Savior.
And we're trying to do it in a way that honors Him and brings Him glory.

"The Kingdom of God is near."
WE make it tangible.

More to come...

Grace Poured Out

"The evening meal was being served...He got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him...

When He was finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" He asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you."

~ John 13:2,4,12-15 NIV ~



There was no "Don't make me look bad while I'm away."
There weren't any last minute rules and reminders.
There were no stern warnings about making sure they didn't mess up.
There were no commands to "tow the line."
No hurried agenda to force a few last minute instructions at them.

Like I would do to my kids if I knew I was going to be leaving them with someone for a few days...

In Jesus' final hours, there was, instead - grace poured out in abundance.
A towel wrapped around a waist and knees bent in service.
For His children.
His forsakers.
He takes their feet and their filth, and He washes them.
He poured grace and blessing all over them.

May I not only DO thanks and COUNT thanks.
May I learn to give the thanks away.
I am full and I am blessed.
And I have been blessed so that I might BE a blessing.
In expressing gratitude for all of the blessings freely given to me, may I finish my days in becoming the blessing to those around me.

My biggest complaint?
My greatest stuggle?
"I don't have the time."

I have time. What is time for if not to bless?

And a life contemplating my blessings fulfills itself in ACTING the love of Christ.
God calls me to give thanks.
But more so - to give the thanks away...so that my life will become the very blessings that I have received.

Grace poured out...splashing all over every one with whom I come into contact.
So that my thanks-giving literally becomes my thanks-living...

A Week-end Away

According to my (not so very) vast amount of personality/temperament knowledge about myself, I am a "task-oriented people person." In non-scientific terms, it means that I love to be around people; I love doing things WITH people, but I am also very much a get-er-done-er. I like to be getting things accomplished WHILE I am with people.

SO.

A scrapbooking week-end away with a bunch of my peeps is an absolutely perfect getaway for this girl. I get to work on my photo albums - which I really only work on about once a year, but I get to do it with my gerls.

Oh man. Bliss.

Every March, from a Friday afternoon to a Sunday afternoon, we spend our days at the lovely Bar Harbor Inn - overlooking the ocean, we drink vast amounts of coffee, we stay up way WAY too late, we go out to eat, we get take out to eat, we buy treats to eat, and we visit and catch up on life, share our hearts and our hurts, laugh and act ridiculous, and just have an all around glorious time. While working on our scrapbooks.

It. is. lovely. I tell you.

All in all, I worked on 108 pages. To be fair - I only did 45 pages from start to finish, I had 34 other pages done (from three years ago) that needed to be journaled in - so I finished those, and I did everything BUT the journaling on 29 more. But, no one really cares about that but me, I am aware. My point being - my task was accomplished!

And the fellowship was wonderful. Some friends who I see often and others who I only hang with this one time a year. All in various stages of life and ministry and work and philosophy and dreams and desires and hopes and struggles and victories.

All of us in process.
All of us on a journey.
Friends and sisters spending a couple of days together away from our regularly scheduled lives.

And now I am home.
Refreshed and ready to be back in the world of my men.


And I think they kind of missed me.

On Being Present...

God Himself - framed in the moment.

This is where God is.
In the present.
Wherever you are - be all there!
(Ann Voskamp - One Thousand Gifts)



:: Little boys taking big boy steps and even bigger adventures

:: Little boy feet and little boy friends

:: Little boy friends and little boy brothers who let baby join in

:: Coffee and breakfast with another boy Mama...slingshots and toy guns optional

:: Eggs to serve and eggs to share

:: Visits to the chicken coop

:: Greeting the girls

:: A cozy shelter

:: Daily gifts

"Life is not an emergency. Life is eucharisteo - grace, thanksgiving, joy!" - Ann Voskamp (One Thousand Gifts)

"Eucharist is the only full and real response of man to God's creation, redemption, and gift of Heaven." ~ Alexander Schmemann

"I have lived the runner, panting ahead in worry, pounding back in regrets, terrified to live in the present, because here-time asks me to do the hardest of all: Just open wide and receive. This is where God is. In the present. When I am present - I meet I AM, the very presence of a present God. Here is the only place I can love Him."
(One Thousand Gifts)

On Living the "Sent Life"

I love this:


It's so simple!

Missional = To go.
Incarnational = To take on flesh.

If missional means "to go," incarnation is about "how" we go and what people see as we go. It encompasses our posture, our tone, our motives, and our heart. They are inseparable twins, and one without the other is not nearly as effective as when both live side by side. Living the incarnational life is critical because it will eventually determine whether or not people will want to know us and our God.
- Tangible Kingdom -

"The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood...."
~ John 1:14 (The Message) ~

Is this what my neighbors and co-workers see when they look at me?

All throughout Scripture, Jesus "showed up" in the middle of real life. So many times, amazing things happened "along the way" as the disciples were just living out their lives. This is how I want it to be in my life and with my family. Just as we're living out life...as we are "being Christ" to our neighbors and our co-workers, the people we "just happen" to run into, and the divine interruptions that God allows along the way.

This is becoming the prayer of our family:

"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our very lives as well, because you had become so dear to us..."
~ I Thessalonians 2:8-9 ~

"Playtime"

Since Ransom has bumped to one nap a day, I've had to make our mornings a little more structured for him while we do school. Otherwise, he turns into a whirling dervish and creates all sorts of havoc.

So, he plays pretty happily at our feet for awhile, and then he moves into his highchair for snacks and something crafty. And THEN after he gets distracted from that (which many days is about 2.5 minutes after his snack has been consumed), I move him to his crib for some playtime. The curtains stay open, fun songs are playing on his radio, and I put different toys in with him each morning. Most days, he loves this, and we can hear him growling or "singing" happily away for the better part of an hour.

Well. This morning, we had a slacker on our hands.
Behold:

I guess Mr. Delicious will have Mommy all to himself this afternoon while the bigger hoolies are napping. I wonder if he planned this all along...

Rites of Passage

Man. These past couple of weeks, our little boys have been hit pretty hard with just a big old nasty cold of some kind of another. You know, the kind that involves all sorts of coughing and snot and fevers and ear aches and body aches - requiring vaporizors, many hours of books and t.v., and pretty much all manners of lethargy.

It's been yuck-o, and dear little Kaden has been hit the hardest. The two littles just have some runny nose remnants, but Kade is still fighting an ear ache and coughing fits. No fun.

In the midst of this yuck -- we've obviously been cut off from the world for several days in a row. We've scaled things waaaay back and have just laid low. I'm actually okay with these arrangements once in awhile. Life just sort of doesn't give you a choice - you have to stop and chill....and just be lazy with your loved ones.

So, in a way - it's been good.

In the meantime....

The wee-est member of the Booker boys has hit a few milestones these past few days. For starters:

we've kissed that baby blue carseat good-bye! Mr. Rancey Pants is now facing forward and sitting front and center just like his big brothers!

He has also started helping his Mama up on the kitchen counter just like Kaden & Jesse used to do when they were little (and STILL do....just standing on the floor or on a chair beside me now!). From the time my boys were tiny, I've always had them up on the counter with me helping me with whatever I'm cooking.

Hands down, Kaden was my neatest little helper. Jesse was very...ah...shall we say..."exuberant" at this age. And Ransom, falls a bit in the middle. We almost lost the entire bowl of salad, and about 55 pieces of carrot went into his mouth while about 2 went into the bowl....but overall, he is thoroughly enjoying himself and his "big boy" role as helper, and so am I!

He is my laundry boy, as well. Often, the wet gets pulled out and the dry gets thrown back in, but, it's all good!

Ransom has also acquired his very first pair of wellie boots. He's not really sure what to think of them yet, but because the big boys always wear theirs, he wants to wear his, too!

...even though they're a tad too big, a little hard to walk in, and they make him spitting mad because he falls over in them all. the. time. He still likes to wear them all over.

And finally, Rancey has begun crafting in the kitchen with us while we do our schoolwork in the morning. These little stampers are marvelous in the fact that he cannot eat them as he so loves to chomp on his crayons, and they make very minimal mess - which I quite love!

AND...if they get chucked on the floor - which they often do - which we're working on - which is not my favorite - which the big boys find hilarious - which makes him want to throw them more ----- the stamper hides back up inside, and no mess takes place on my floor. Brilliant. Fantastic inventions, I say!

So....

Much sickness has abounded.
But many milestones have taken place, as well:

~ A big boy carseat
~ Cooking with Mommy
~ "Helping" with the laundry
~ No more morning naps and crafting in the kitchen
~ And wellie boots for puddle hopping...or falling into...

He is a big boy indeed!

St. Patrick's Day

:: Today, the kids woke up and found a new Tom & Jerry cartoon waiting for them to watch first thing this morning while I made them a special breakfast. (Green Eggs & Ham, fresh orange juice, and a bunch of green doo-dads).

The boys found the green eggs to be disgusting. It was a colossal flop.

I believe Kaden's words were: "Cool, Mommy...but kinda' gross."
Jesse's were: "Gross. I'm NOT eating these.

And the only reason why we had fresh orange juice is because we were out of toilet paper. I'm not a huge fan of going into a store and ONLY buying toilet paper...so I bought the orange juice to go along with it. It made it look like the juice is what I really needed this morning, right? And it turns out that it was, because juice is what the boys ate for breakfast...


:: This is my new wall decor...

The scores from our last Farkle game taped onto my living room wall.
Do you see who won?
Methinks he's gloating just a wee bit...


:: This is what Ransom wants to do all day - invite the girls inside to play.

He's his mother's son.

Sir Hooligan has now officially gone from two naps a day to one, long, behemoth nap right after lunch all the way through to supper. Makes for some loooong mornings, but for some rather refreshing afternoons!


:: It's official. The wellies (galoshes, spelunkers, rain boots, what-have-you's) are now officially out. My boys - never the fans of change - we not overly thrilled with this declaration.

There was a lot of: "Mine are too big!" "Mine are too small!" "I'm going to get snow inside these!" "Why can't I just wear my sneakers?" etc. etc. etc.

In the famous wise, wise words of MY father: "They'll get over it. If they don't - so what?"

I am my father's daughter.


Despite the complaints about the wellies, and despite the colds that still plague my household...the weather outside is glorious today, so outside we all went.

This is silly string soup.

It's what they did with their St. Patrick's day green silly string.
I don't get it either.
But the boys were entertained.
And they both only fell in the mud one time each.


:: These are green, sugar cookies that the kids had after playing outside.

They went over way better than the eggs.
I think the reeses' cups crunched up in them helped a little.

Then we read some stories.
Now my boys are sleeping.
Praise Jesus.
I love my boys.
I am also quite fond of naptimes.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today...

Right now...

:: I am taking advantage of the fact that my kids can't tell time yet, and since they're looking like the Walking Dead anyway, I put them all down to nap 1 1/2 hours early. We shall see how that pans out.

:: I am loving how much little Ransom loves his big brother and gives him more unsolicited lovies than ANY of the rest of us. He is well aware that Kaden is not feeling up to par today.


:: I thought about doing P90X, but instead I sat down to the computer with my coffee and a donut to type this post. Hmn. I wonder how far "thinking" will get me. The funny thing is, I don't even really like donuts. Although, I AM seeing a pattern. Yesterday, I thought about going for a run, and I ate a bowl of Lucky Charms instead. Methinks I need to think a little harder....

:: My chickies broke free yesterday, and they were so happy to be able to run up and down our one patch of lawn that has no snow...I didn't have the heart to pen them in again.

Seriously. I love my chickens. They make me happy.

And they love me. I'm like a chicken whisperer with my girls. As soon as I step outside, they come running to me.

(It could be the fact that I always have little treats in my pockets...but I like to think that they just love me for ME! It does wonders for my ego).

And curses upon all the foxes in the world....

:: I went to the library this morning and came home with these:

I LOVE the library. I love everything about it, and I come home with as many books as I can carry. I went in for just one specific book ("Green Eggs & Ham" for St. Patrick's Day, tomorrow), but I came home with thirty. Hello, school for the day. I can do that, 'cause I'm the teacher.

And little sick boys like to cuddle on the couch with their Mommy and read new books. And Mommies like to cuddle with their sick little boys and read fun, new, exciting books, as well - as opposed to that same, favorite book for the one zillionth time. Just for a change...

:: I had a really nice, spontaneous breakfast out with a friend who's up for a visit this morning. Sweet Kevy stayed home with the Sicklets, so we could meet up for a couple of hours. I loved catching up. I love that we do life and church and relationships differently. I love that we're not cookie cutter people doing the same exact thing. I love that just as God is unique, so has He made each of us different and unique with different giftings and personalities, and different dreams and ways that He wants us to live out our lives here on Earth. Different is good. If our lives are purpose-driven and sold out to the ONE who gives us purpose, and if we seek to honor Him and strive to live how He is asking us to live...it's good. And it's actually pretty cool.

:: I love that it's raining. This means the snow is melting. Snow in Maine - in March - is gross. Nothing nice about it.

:: I think Kaden is hacking up a lung in his bed. I'd better go check out the situation.

:: And then I'll think about going for a run...

Infestation



For My Boyzies...


Three little boys -
coughing in their beds
snotting and sneezing -
with fevers in their heads.

Jesse had it first
and his fever did grow
When he'd go to kiss the baby
I would say: "No! No!"

Your germies -
they're so yucky!
They don't need to be spread!
But loving little Jesse
Couldn't get that through his head!

So he coughed and he snotted
and the juices did flow.
And Mama shook her head
and just said: "Here we go..."

A storm - she's a brewin'
they will ALL get it now!
But there's a silver lining...
'least it's not "Mad Cow!" (Lame, I know. I was struggling with this verse!)

Just some sick little hoolies
in their jammies with a cold.
with orifices' a-oozing -
What a sight to behold!

Mama needs more coffee
and she's bleary-eyed, too!
But she's settled on the couch
and she'll read some more "Pooh."

And she'll snuggle little boyzies
And she'll wipe little nosies
And those little thankful smiles -
are worth a million posies!


****

475. Ability to stay home with my boys when they're sick
476. soft jammies
477. lemon honey tea
478. cartoons in the morning
479. vicks vaporizers
480. sick days from school
481. unlimited supply of coffee for the Mama
482. warm outside breezes sweeping the yuck from the house
483. cozy beds, flannel sheets
484. Adventures in Odyssey
485. extended naptimes
486. nowhere we need to go
487. a healthy winter, overall
488. My Mama who checks in on me!
489. A doting Daddy who take shifts in the nighttime
490. Life's pace slowing down for a few days...

Spring Ahead!

Well. Even though springing forward kicked me in the patootie...holy hannah, I think I felt it more this year than ever before...

I do so love the fact that Spring does seem to be peeking its little head around the corner!


Do you see this? There is actually some of my yard exposed!
Oh glorious day!

In honor of this fantastic occasion, I'm reminded of a little Spring ditty that I read once in my Archie comic books:

Spring has sprung!
The grass has riz!
I wonder where
the flowers is?


Yesterday was our first really warm day where the kids could actually be outside with no winter jackets, so we dug out all of the bikes, trikes, and all things with wheels - and for hours, they did laps around our little deck!


Sir Rancey Pants taking it all in...


This little push car has gone through its paces. Sweet Amber gave me this when Kaden was a baby. (Remember, Amber?) ALL three of my boys loved this thing!


Big Bro showing Ransom the ropes.



Aaaand a yard sale purchase this is sure to bring a split lip and cracked open skull before the season is over!

Aaaaah! Spring!
I can feel it in the air!

463. Sunshine.
464. Longer days.
465. Less articles of clothing.
466. Garden planning.
467. The ratio of hours outside to inside becoming more balanced.
468. Chickies roaming free in a few more weeks.
469. Seeing grass!
470. Buds on trees.
471. Wellie boots.
472. Seeds to purchase.
473. And start inside!
474. Boys on bikes.

Aaaaah.

Remember This?

I remember watching this on T.V. a few years ago.



Holy Hannah. I love this.

Here's their story:



"I'm just loaning him my arms and my legs...."

"Greater love has no man than this...."

I'm No Scientist.....

(Somehow this entry got posted yesterday while I was mid-thought...It's fixed now!)

A very "dumbed down" definition of the Second Law of Thermodynamics states this:
..... "the disorder of the Universe always increases."

Well, hmn.

Yeah.

I can totally see that.

Because without the perpetual picking up, and cleaning up, and tidying up around here....

....the disorder of this home would perpetually increase.


So, if God is a God of order and not of chaos...
And He alone is the One who brings order OUT of chaos...

Does that not make what we do...this continuous re-ordering of our homes - sacred?
Holy, even?

Cleaning floors, doing dishes, wiping bottoms, folding laundry.
Thankless things in and of themselves.
Tasks that never end and must always be redone. Over and over again.

But, without this continuous re-ordering...this God-thing that we have been given to do...our world's spiral....and chaos reigns supreme.

In the doing and in the re-doing, in the mundane and in the messy...
our Father sees restoration.
Something worthy.
Something sacred.

And He is honored.

Rainy Daysies

"It's the joy of small that makes life large...All wonder and worship can only grow out of smallness" ~ Ann Voskamp



459. Day 100 of school

461. Breakfast and Mancala

462. Coffee dates with little boys.

460. Dreams of spring!

450. Growing baby with love of books.

451. Rain that washes snow away
448. Late night talks with friend across town while rest of our homes sleep
452. Pancakes and eggs at 8:00 p.m. - a breakfast date on our living room floor
446. Garden talks with Lew
455. Basement gutters truly working!
447. Sickness that does not sweep through the entire house


"The perspective of smallness is what cultivates surprised wonder, grows gratitude, and yeilds joy." - Ann Voskamp (One Thousand Gifts)

Plan B

Well, today was one of those days when I woke up I knew exactly what was on the agenda for our Family Day. That would be - or I should say, would HAVE BEEN - Cabellas. Shocker? Not so much....

It would have gone down like this:
:: Wake up to the sun shining, birds singing, and no snow (Oh wait. That's my dreams).
:: Wake up to the sun shining and birds singing...I'll take that for now.
:: Shower - I've learned my lesson with my Hubby. ALWAYS shower - one never knows where one might end up on Family Day.
:: Eat a quicky breakfast
:: Grab our "go bag" for the kids
:: Hop in the car.
:: Possibly grab a coffee for the road trip.
:: ROAD TRIP!!! - (Where in the perfect world, Ransom naps the whole way to Portland and the boys play happily and somewhat quietly. In the real world, Ransom usually naps part of the way, begs for snacks the rest of the way, and the boys are rowdy and loud).
:: Arrive at said destination for the day and play, explore, eat snacks, get lost for funsies, walk around somewhere, you know the drill....
:: Drive home - (Where in the perfect world, all THREE boys would sleep and Kevin and I would have two hours of bliss to talk about our lives. In the real world, some nap while others beg for snacks. Then, those others fall asleep only to be awakened by the cries of those who were once napping waking up to legs that have fallen asleep, sore back, or what-have-you).
:: Get home.
:: Put hoolies to bed.
:: Pop in a frozen pizza for my Love, and he and I have all the rest of the evening to ourselves.
:: GLORIOUS.


Today, however, it went down like this:

:: I woke up to the sun shining and instead of the birds singing - to the sounds of my Love woofing his cookies in the bathroom. Poor Man.
:: Me and the hoolies not knowing what to do with ourselves.
:: Back up plan needed in a hurry.

So, Plan B went down like this:

:: No shower.
:: A trip to the store looking like I just rolled out of bed, because I did, in which I buy all sorts of this:

(The candy was to ease my children's sorrow at the news of no road trip...and let's be honest, mine too).
:: MANY games of Mancala with Kaden in which he won the majority. Exhibit A:

(I believe I ended with 9 Mancala stones in my bucket. I needed 28 just to TIE. He's a demon at this game! And I seriously play my hardest. I take no prisoners even at CandyLand. I cannot beat this kid at Mancala!).
:: Breakfasts of toast.
:: Lunch of Maypo.
:: Supper of English Muffins. (Well rounded, dontcha' think? When one of us is down, we're all down! If Kevy doesn't want real food, the rest of us are blissfully happy with carbs).
:: Tons of T.V.
:: All day in our p.j.s.
:: A very VERY slow and lazy day for everyone.
:: And many prayers that this does not go through the whole family.

P.S. Good News! At 5:15 p.m., Kevy is making coffee. This is a very good sign! Let's see if tomorrow is a repeat of today just with different players. Here's hoping NOT......

Ponderings...


(A picture of our house during that crazy thirty minute blizzard that we had yesterday....completely random with nothing to do with this post....just thought it looked cool....)

Right now, I am wondering:

:: Why Kaden puked in the night last night? He felt great before, he felt great afterward, and he's felt great all day. Weird. He hasn't puked since he was two.

:: When oh when is Spring EVER going to arrive? I hate winter. Not ashamed to admit it. Blast that blasted snow. Be gone with you!

:: How exactly I'm going to reach my co-workers at work. The more I learn about them the more I realize that what we are offering needs some serious re-tweaking. It's a whole different world out there than it was even just a few years ago. It's crazy.

:: What's wrong with my elbow? For about a year now, I have had this nagging shooting pain in my elbow that goes all the way down to my wrist. It's been an off again on again thing until about four or five months ago, and now it's constant. Again. Weird.

:: Why do I have to pull my whole head of hair off my face for waittressing? I look like a freak right out of fairyland, and I feel like I'm twelve years old. Not the feeling I'm going for. It's also making me have to grow my thousand layers of hair out longer than I want to in order to be able to pull my hair off of my face. Not my favorite.

:: What we're going to do tomorrow for Family Day? I'll give us all three guesses...

:: Will Kevin let me get a goat this summer? They are cute, they are friendly, and they love to eat poison ivy. I am deathly allergic to poison ivy and I get it about a thousand times every summer. I think those factors outweigh their naughtiness factor. Kevin disagrees. That's a problem.

:: Will Kevin let me get a cow instead? Not going to happen.

:: Will Kevin let me get another turkey? Pretty sure that's a no-go, as well. I can't help it that I fell in love with my turkey and almost cried when he butchered it. He knows I'm not a real farmer. It takes practice. I think I need more practice with another turkey. He thinks not.

:: How does one balance life in such a way so as not to get burnt out, not to hurt people when one has to make hard choices, not to offend others who may disagree with you, show people that you still love them no matter what, and all the while try to live out life the way one feels God wants them too? That's a toughy....

:: Will Jesse ever go one day in his life without cutting, bruising, or hurting himself in such a way that draws blood, elicits screams, and makes his Mama unable to do a really nice close-up family picture. Ever. The answer is no.

:: Will I EVER be able to wake up before the hoolies and exercise? Could they ever possibly sleep in until 7:00?

:: Should I invite Lew over for dessert tonight or tomorrow? I miss him.

:: Who will get the boot from Amerian Idol tonight? I like the funky Casey boy and two blonde girls who's names I can't remember. One is fifteen and the other has long curly hair with a husky voice. Love them.

:: Should we get a dog for the boys this summer? Not sure I'm ready for a 4th child yet. Three of my men are feeling ready. Not a fan of the stench or the hair. I always had a dog growing up. Mom always did all the work. I'm quite sure that's how it would go down in this house, too.

:: Should I be worried that my six-year old quite repeatedly and astoundingly creams me at Mancala almost every time we play?

:: Will I homeschool Kaden again next year? At this present moment - 3:46 p.m. on a Wednesday evening, methinks I will.

:: If I lived somewhere else and no-one knew me, I would dress completely differently - far more funky, I would have two or three peircings, I would have a tat of all of my boys' names, and I would have some pretty punky hair. So, why don't I do it now? That's something to chew on. People would think it wasn't really me. But, maybe right now, I'm not being really me. On the outside, I mean. I'm totally me on the inside. Hmn. Interesting.

:: Ever think about any of these things?